Van Horebeek sets career milestone with Czech MXGP victory

[totalmotorcycle]

Van @Horebeek sets career milestone with #Czech #MXGP victory


Loket. Grand Prix of Czech Republic 2014. A hard and slippery track. YZ450FM and Yamaha Factory Racing. An intense duel with world champion Antonio Cairoli. A 2-1 scorecard: all facts that constitute Jeremy Van Horebeek’s very first victory in the premier MXGP class of the FIM Motocross World Championship finally achieved today in round fourteen of seventeen in the 2014 series. The Belgian was superb on one his preferred circuits to give Yamaha their first MXGP success since Lierop (Netherlands) last summer and for his works team since the 2011 Swedish Grand Prix.

21,500 fans were thrilled by Van Horebeek’s showdown with Cairoli in the all-decisive second moto of the day run in cloudy conditions. JVH had earlier taken a solitary second position behind runaway victor Kevin Strijbos in Moto1 but the stage was set with a long and patient stalk of the reigning number one in Moto2. Van Horebeek kept close to the Sicilian and in the last three laps ‘pulled the pin’ to pressurise his friend and rival. When Cairoli bobbled and missed a rut on the entry to the corner at one of the lowest parts of the hillside track then Jere had his chance and squeezed through to lead and hold his advantage to the flag for an emotional end to a bumper day for Yamaha (Kiara Fontanesi won her third MXW title and Christophe Charlier walked the MX2 podium for the first time this year).

After previously accumulating eleven podium finishes in a row up until his fourth position in Finland two weeks ago, Van Horebeek was back on the box in style and with the added bonus of trimming the deficit to Cairoli in the MXGP standings to 57 points with 150 still to win.

Bike it Yamaha Cosworth’s Rui Gonçalves was seventeenth overall after experimenting and struggling with his set-up choices in the motos. Full credit to 2B Yamaha’s Milko Potisek after his eleventh position in the final MXGP listing (thanks to results of eighth and fourteenth; he hit the start gate at the launch of the second sprint) represented the best of his season so far.

DP19 Yamaha Racing’s David Philippaerts was ruled out of the Grand Prix at the last minute. The Italian caught and twisted his left foot in Sunday morning warm-up and was taken to the medical centre with a suspected broken lower leg. The 30 year old will have another scan in Italy on Monday but the initial diagnosis was ligament damage and possibly also a fracture. DP is already thinking about a return to Grand Prix competition and if the extent of the injury is too much to miss round fifteen in Belgium next week then he will have almost a month to get ready for the Brazilian round at the beginning of September.

The sand of Lommel will entertain a Grand Prix for the first time since 2011 next weekend for the last fixture in Europe before MXGP heads to South America.



Jeremy Van Horebeek

“It is difficult to explain how this feels. I think this is one of my best days ever. It is a special one but it won’t be my last one. The first moto was pretty good but the start wasn't great and I had to come through the pack and Kevin had already gone. In the second I was second right away with Tony. I had to fight the whole moto and we were both sliding around and losing control. We were on the limit. With two laps to go I knew I had a great chance but I wanted to do it cleanly. I showed my front wheel once on the uphill just to let him know I was there and then did it. I’m so stoked. It is unbelievable. Once I started to get on the podium every weekend this season I knew I had to work harder and also get the rest I needed. I did a great job and I feel really fit. The bike has also felt better and better because this is my first year with the team and every GP you learn about it [the bike]. I think the combination of my personal development and with the Yamaha made this result. I’m looking forward to Lommel now. Tony is one of the best sand riders in the world and I plan to have something special for my fans. First we’ll enjoy this for a day and then start work for that one.”




David Philippaerts
“I hit a hole that twisted my leg and I went down pretty hard. I knew something was wrong and it felt like my ankle. They made a scan and gave me an injection for the pain and at the moment it might only be the ligaments and maybe also a piece of the bone. I will know a bit more tomorrow but I want to come back on the bike as soon as possible because this season half of the season had been pretty strong.”


Rui Gonçalves
“Definitely not the results I was looking for. We tried our best, and different set-ups with tyres to get the bike working well with the track. I think we learned from what we did even if the results do not show our progress. We need to take the positives through our work and the new stuff we tried in the second moto. I messed up the start and I cannot blame anybody but myself. I’m definitely looking forward to next weekend and getting nearer to the results I know I am capable of. I don't want to put pressure on myself but everybody knows I can ride the sand. I cannot thank the team enough for their support and giving me everything I need to try and make myself and the bike better.”



2014 MXGP Czech Republic

Loket 27/07/2014

race I
1 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 33'50.286
2 Jeremy Van Horebeek
Yamaha
BEL 0'09.231
3 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0'16.050
4 Maximilian Nagl Honda GER 0'23.810
5 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 0'27.157
6 Gautier Paulin Kawasaki FRA 0'27.751
7 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0'33.766
8 Milko Potisek Yamaha FRA 0'34.639
9 Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 0'37.721
10 Tanel Leok TM EST 0'39.701
11 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 0'46.032
12 Matiss Karro KTM LVA 0'48.080
13 Nathan Watson Husqvarna GBR 0'48.773
14 Martin Michek KTM CZE 0'51.025
15 Ken De Dycker KTM BEL 1'02.113
19 Rui Gonçalves
Yamaha
POR 1'19.768
race II
1 Jeremy Van Horebeek
Yamaha
BEL 35'16.829
2 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0'01.531
3 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'01.840
4 Dennis Ullrich KTM GER 0'46.421
5 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 0'58.054
6 Gautier Paulin Kawasaki FRA 1'06.979
7 Davide Guarneri TM ITA 1'11.092
8 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 1'12.509
9 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 1'13.837
10 Matiss Karro KTM LVA 1'17.578
11 Tanel Leok TM EST 1'18.932
12 Rui Gonçalves
Yamaha
POR 1'20.389
13 Nathan Watson Husqvarna GBR 1'22.599
14 Milko Potisek Yamaha FRA 1'26.140
15 Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 1'29.643


MXGP World Standing

Rider Standings After Race 14 of 19

1. Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 619
2. Jeremy Van Horebeek
Yamaha
BEL 562
3. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 484
4. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 469
5. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 333
6. Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 325
7. Maximilian Nagl Honda GER 291
8. Gautier Paulin Kawasaki FRA 235
9. David Philippaerts
Yamaha
ITA 234
10. Davide Guarneri TM ITA 232
11. Rui Gonçalves
Yamaha
POR 211
12. Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 197
13. Matiss Karro KTM LVA 187
14. Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 184
15. Xavier Boog Honda FRA 159
16. Joel Roelants Honda BEL 158
22. Milko Potisek Yamaha FRA 95
45. Pier Bertuzzo Yamaha ITA 4
53. Amirezza Sabetifar Yamaha IRI 2
59. Raul Alvarez Yamaha ESP 1
61. Ryan Houghton Yamaha GBR 1



Circuit Length:
1630
Weather:
Dry
Last Years Winner:
Clement Desalle


Manufacturer Standings

27/07/2014

1 KTM 619
2 Suzuki 587
3 Yamaha
566
4 Kawasaki 510
5 Honda 427
6 TM 273
7 Husqvarna 269






Charlier takes comprehensive moto win and first 2014 MX2 podium
The Grand Prix of Czech Republic and the fourteenth round of seventeen in the FIM Motocross World Championship was a great meeting for Yamaha and the YZ250F with factory racer Christophe Charlier earning his first podium finish of 2014 with third overall including a second moto victory. Kiara Fontanesi also used her Yamaha Rinaldi Research and Development-equipped YZ250F to claim her third consecutive FIM Women’s World title in what was the final round of six in the series.

21,500 fans moved into the spectator zones around the steep sections of the dry, slick and stone-laden hard-pack. The MX2 class provided some fantastic entertainment with an intense battle – in the second of the two 30 minute and 2 lap motos especially – seeing riders banging plastics and swapping positions around a windy and tight track.

After a build up of speed and form in recent events Christophe Charlier was attacking, confident and strong in the two sprints on Sunday; even in spite of a sore thumb as a result of spraining the digit through a small crash on Saturday.

In Moto1 the Corsican didn’t make the best start and tracked Valentin Guillod for most of the race duration to make sure of seventh place. The 23 year old used his experience to dive for an inside line out of the gate in Moto2 and his excellent getaway was the base of his first chequered flag since the 2013 British Grand Prix. Once Christophe had dispensed of Jose Butron in the opening stages he set a comfortable and uncatchable pace as leader. The twenty-five points allowed the former European Champion to pick up a trophy for third position overall and give Yamaha their third podium appearance in the category this year.

Fontanesi came to Loket with a slight four-point lead over Meghan Rutledge in the MXW Championship. The Italian was determined and highly motivated to secure her ‘red plate’ permanently for 2014 in the final outing for the girls. A win on Saturday was followed by a safe third place on Sunday and the Fonta-Yamaha-YRRD combination reset their place of superiority for another term.

Bike it Yamaha Cosworth’s Max Anstie put some recent turbulent meetings behind him by taking eleventh overall with a 14-8 scorecard. A collision with another rider and a damaged silencer in Saturday’s qualification heat race meant he went to the gate in last position but he rallied against the adversity and his Moto2 performance to ensure two points-scoring outings for the first time in six events was encouraging.

Kemea Yamaha duo Petar Petrov and Luke Styke were absent from the Czech Republic fixture due to respective shoulder injuries. Petrov should hopefully be back for round fifteen on August 2nd and 3rd.

Loket was the scene of the penultimate date in the European EMX125 Championship and the strength of the YZ125 two-stroke continues to ring out. Alvin Ostlund was an undisputed runner-up behind winner Brian Hsu as David Herbreteau put two YZs in the final top five with fifth place. Ostlund needs to grab 14 points more than Davy Pootjes to finish second in the 2014 competition.

The Grand Prix of Belgium next weekend will be round fifteen of seventeen (and the last for EMX125) and will take place in the revered and notorious sand of Lommel in the Limburg region.



Christophe Charlier

“It’s been a good weekend! It didn’t start so well because I crashed early on and ripped my thumb back. It was pretty hard after that. The first moto start was bad but I pushed all I could to come back to seventh. In the second race I took a better line out of the gate and I was lucky a rider did not come across and take it. I passed Butron and had a great feeling out there. I had fun with my bike and I’m really happy with the result. I was surprised how easy it was to win today.”




Max Anstie
“Some positives today because I was unfortunate yesterday. I was clipped and the pipe was all bent and misshaped and ended up stopping. Obviously that put me last in the gate today. We were on the back foot. We tried a few things on the bike to make it a bit smoother and a bit more torquey and I ended up reverting to my old set-up for the second race. I got out of the gate better but was shuffled back around the first few corners. The bike felt solid and strong and was working well. I can build from this. It is difficult when you don't get motos under your belt and you are doubting yourself because you don't have those results on paper but a top ten from last in the gate wasn’t too bad, especially on this track.”



2014 MX2-GP Czech Republic

Loket 27/07/2014

race I
1 Jordi Tixier KTM FRA 33'47.424
2 Romain Febvre Husqvarna FRA 0'08.612
3 Valentin Guillod KTM CHE 0'10.278
4 Tim Gajser Honda SVN 0'11.309
5 Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 0'17.799
6 Jeremy Seewer Suzuki CHE 0'19.199
7 Christophe Charlier
Yamaha
FRA 0'20.819
8 Aleksandr Tonkov Husqvarna RUS 0'31.801
9 Julien Lieber Suzuki BEL 0'44.708
10 Pauls Jonass KTM LVA 0'47.282
11 Maxime Desprey Honda FRA 0'49.434
12 Vsevolod Brylyakov Honda RUS 0'58.562
13 Calvin Vlaanderen KTM NED 1'02.781
14 Max Anstie
Yamaha
GBR 1'05.781
15 Mel Pocock KTM GBR 1'09.028
race II
1 Christophe Charlier
Yamaha
FRA 34'06.646
2 Dylan Ferrandis Kawasaki FRA 0'07.592
3 Valentin Guillod KTM CHE 0'11.540
4 Jordi Tixier KTM FRA 0'12.187
5 Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 0'13.544
6 Romain Febvre Husqvarna FRA 0'22.485
7 Aleksandr Tonkov Husqvarna RUS 0'23.517
8 Max Anstie
Yamaha
GBR 0'25.208
9 Tim Gajser Honda SVN 0'27.164
10 Julien Lieber Suzuki BEL 0'30.741
11 Jeremy Seewer Suzuki CHE 0'31.153
12 Roberts Justs Husqvarna LVA 0'49.252
13 Mel Pocock KTM GBR 0'50.385
14 Maxime Desprey Honda FRA 0'53.675
15 Vsevolod Brylyakov Honda RUS 0'55.573


MX2-GP World Standing

Rider Standings After Race 14 of 19

1. Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 594
2. Jordi Tixier KTM FRA 492
3. Romain Febvre Husqvarna FRA 453
4. Dylan Ferrandis Kawasaki FRA 425
5. Tim Gajser Honda SVN 420
6. Arnaud Tonus Kawasaki CHE 389
7. Valentin Guillod KTM CHE 354
8. Aleksandr Tonkov Husqvarna RUS 335
9. Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 321
10. Jeremy Seewer Suzuki CHE 282
11. Julien Lieber Suzuki BEL 235
12. Petar Petrov
Yamaha
BGR 217
13. Max Anstie
Yamaha
GBR 214
14. Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NED 176
15. Christophe Charlier
Yamaha
FRA 172
16. Mel Pocock KTM GBR 130
22. Luke Styke
Yamaha
AUS 80
27. Magne Klingsheim Yamaha NOR 29
35. Anton Lundgren Yamaha SWE 5



Circuit Length:
1630
Weather:
Dry
Last Years Winner:
Jeffrey Herlings


Manufacturer Standings

27/07/2014

1 KTM 669
2 Kawasaki 530
3 Husqvarna 469
4 Honda 430
5 Suzuki 407
6 Yamaha
389
7 TM 6